Monday, October 17, 2005
Serious Science
The NYTimes had a great piece about precisely defining the kilogram on Sunday. My speciality in school was analytical chemistry - measuring things. I love this stuff. You'll probabaly be bored to tears, but I love this stuff.
Ah but energy, not that's pure, inalterable, readily and precisely measurable stuff. But think about this. Using energy to define a measure of mass may be the ultimate expression of Einstien's famous equation. Cool, huh?
It's a two-story-tall contraption that looks one part Star Trek, one part Wallace and Gromit. Briefly put, it measures the power needed to generate an electromagnetic force that balances the gravitational pull on a kilogram of mass.Bottom line is this, physical stuff, water, metals, gases are always subject to what we geeks call "perturbations" - vagaries that mean they are never aboslutly pure and exact.
Ah but energy, not that's pure, inalterable, readily and precisely measurable stuff. But think about this. Using energy to define a measure of mass may be the ultimate expression of Einstien's famous equation. Cool, huh?
